OIL THEFT AND ITS THREAT TO NIGERIA THE report, the other day, that a batch of 2,00050-litre jerry cans of stolen petroleum products was intercepted by security forces in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State is a worrisome incident that reveals so starkly the dimensions as well as the extent of the roguery going on in the oil sector of the Nigerian economy. Oil theft is a generic term for all manner of stealing of crude oil and refined products by and involving various categories of people in and outside of the sector – top officials who collude with vested interests to under-report production output, big international gangs of businessmen, local barons operating mini refineries, and small-time local actors armed with crude equipment to siphon what they consider their own share of a national cake. In a country of weak government and thoroughly compromised regulatory and law enforcement institutions, oil theft is a thriving industry with a turnover comparable to the economy of some other African states. If care is not taken, and Nigeria’s economy haemorrhages as it presently does, their may be nothing left to steal in the near future. For some time, focus has largely been on the direct theft of crude petroleum in the Niger Delta area by well-connected, well-heeled interests. It is estimated that, at any point in time, up to 10 per cent of Nigeria’s crude output is stolen each day, thereby depriving the nation of daily revenue of tens of millions of dollars. One of the greatest threats of this crime is to the nation’s security because the quantum of money that accrues to the persons involved in these acts sufficiently enables them to corrupt and blackmail government and threaten the state. That this act of thievery continues unabated is one more indication of the inability or even unwillingness of the Federal Government to secure Nigeria and manage it for the maximum benefit of the people. As if this is not bad enough, theft in the sector has apparently ‘diversified.’ Refined products that are largely imported at dubious, ridiculously quoted prices are now stolen at various points – the pipelines , the storage tanks and just about any way the thieves can tap into. It needs be quickly noted that the resources such as equipment, technical skill and the hiring of hands to carry out such ‘operation’ require substantial financing. So, these dastardly acts are no game being played by minnows. The 100,000 litres of refined products intercepted by the combined team of the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Army, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps was reportedly intended to be smuggled into a neighbouring country where, ostensibly, prices are higher. Lately, theft of refined products has moved beyond the coastal areas into the hinterland. A few days ago in Lokoja, a wooden boat laden with 65,000 litres of such goods stored in 500-litre tanks was intercepted by the Nigerian Navy. If such large quantities of goods are intercepted, the amount that escapes arrest is anybody’s guess. Again, this is to imply that Nigeria is losing unimaginably large portions of resources and income to criminals. At every incident, the security forces report that persons are arrested and handed over to the police. But, generally speaking, either that the ‘small fries’ do not seem to reveal the big men who back them or investigations are not thorough enough to elicit such information and consequent action. And so, the crime continues and in new directions too. The monetary value of and gain from petroleum-related theft is huge, in local and foreign currencies, and this is the real attraction for those involved – Nigerians and their foreign colluders. It is also one reason it is big business that oils big politics in a most corruptive manner. It is clear that there is insufficient desire on the part of the Nigerian authorities to curb criminality in the oil sector. Firstly, the policing of the pipelines against vandals-cum-thieves is being done in the crudest way, namely contracting the job to local communities and or individuals and for fees that are at best suspect. Notwithstanding the value of aerial surveillance and joint task force patrols, modern technology such as the point sensing devices that employ the Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technique can perform this task more reliably and at less cost. Similarly, there is, as far as anyone can decipher, no political will to stop the long-running theft of Nigeria’s crude oil. A determined government could engage the help of Nigerian experts versed in the matters such as a certain Barth Obi Oyibo Thompson who, in a December 2002 newspaper advertorial offered the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo his services to track the theft of Nigeria’s crude. Also, there are international organisations that engage in the business of tracking production and product movement across the globe, and many other governments desirous of transparency in the oil industry can be liaised with. Oil theft and indeed, oil-related crimes such as the multi-billion naira petroleum subsidy fraud constitute a threat to Nigeria in more ways than economic terms. By making many indolent but well-connected Nigerians suddenly and stupendously rich, positive values are distorted. The culture of honesty, hard work and productive engagement is demeaned in favour of clever manipulation and crooked and quick gain. The easy but bad oil-derived money that suffuses the Nigerian economy is not only driving out good money but damaging values, culture and politics. Government must, therefore, live up to its moral and constitutional responsibilities to move firmly against oil theft and its corrosive effects on this polity. www,anchorship.nl
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:44:47 +0000
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